Language is Everything

'Can do' in the north of England

Business Week 2009, sponsored by Language is Everything, has got off to a roaring start. One of the early highlights was veteran campaigner Tony Benn, who called for a far-ranging rethink of political processes in a speech on Monday.

Meanwhile, Carolyn Burgess (our chief exec) was in action at the World Trade Centre Hull & Humber on Tuesday morning. The picture below shows Carolyn speaking at 'Still in the Dark About Doing Business Overseas?', which aimed to help companies re-focus and find opportunities in new markets.

Language is Everything takes centre stage tomorrow, Thursday, with two events headlined by Tim Sanders, a best-selling American author on business trends and social responsibility. Our afternoon event at Goole College will look at the links between business and education. It will also include 'The Language is Everything Challenge' — is it possible to learn a new language in 20 minutes? In the evening, our invitation-only dinner at Carlton Towers will bring together experts from education, business and government to discuss: what key skills will the next generation of leaders need to have?

Download Interactive PDF

Business Week 2009: five days to go

There are just five days to go until the launch of Business Week 2009, a celebration of the Humber region's can-do spirit, sponsored by Language is Everything.

Carolyn Burgess, our chief exec, will be kicking things off at the Bondholders' Breakfast on Monday morning, and the week will come to a spectacular close when John Cleese tops the bill at the Yorkshire International Business Convention (YIBC) on the Friday.

You can read more about our involvement with Business Week in our 2009 annual report, which was published earlier this month.

Click here to download a copy of the report (PDF, 700KB)

One of the most eagerly anticipated events at Business Week will be 'The Language is Everything Challenge', which takes place on the Thursday afternoon at Goole College. Three contestants will receive 20 minutes' intensive coaching in a new language from a professional linguist. They will then attempt a basic telephone task — without using any English — such as phoning a library in Latvia and asking what time it closes.

The three languages that have been chosen are being kept a closely guarded secret until the day. However, we can announce the line-up of contestants, who come from the worlds of business, the media and education.

Tim Sanders is a best-selling author on business trends and social responsibility. He is the keynote speaker at two events organised by Language is Everything on the Thursday (download an interactive PDF here), and he will also be on stage at the YIBC on the Friday. Fay Edwards is part of the news team at KCFM 99.8, the Hull and East Yorkshire radio station. And Jessica Goulden is a language student from Vermuyden School in Goole.

"This is shaping up to be a fascinating event," said Carolyn Burgess. "Is it possible to learn a language — from scratch — in 20 minutes well enough to complete a basic telephone task? We're going to find out very soon!"

Other Business Week highlights include Tony Benn on the Monday, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on the Tuesday and Alistair Campbell on the Wednesday. Also appearing at the YIBC will be Dave Stewart, 'Matt' Pritchett, Tracy Edwards and Tim Smit.

Language is Everything in francophone Africa

Carolyn Burgess (our chief exec) has returned from a fact-finding mission to Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

One of Carolyn's key issues was international trade — how can the UK's business links with francophone Africa be developed? — and she held talks with Mamadou Sarr, director-general of the Ivorian Chamber of Commerce, and Idrissa Fofana, chief of staff at the ministry of industry.

Healthcare was another area of focus — Language is Everything supports AfrOx, which focuses on cancer prevention and control in Africa — and Carolyn met with Professor Danho Simplice Anongba, director-general of the health ministry, and Dr Amalado Ayemou, head of the national cancer programme.

Carolyn also met Rachel Gogoua, president of National Organisation for the Child, the Woman and the Family (an NGO that has been one of the driving forces behind the Victoria Climbié School), and Philippe Delanne, the Côte d’Ivoire representative for the United Nations Population Fund.

You can read more about the background to Carolyn's trip in our annual report, which was published earlier this month.

Click here to download a copy of the report (PDF, 700KB)

Award-winning Language is Everything launches annual report

At a packed presentation ceremony held last night at Bridlington Spa, Language is Everything won the prestigious Chairman's Award for enhancing the economy of the East Riding of Yorkshire. The Chairman's Awards are presented by East Riding of Yorkshire Council, with nominations coming from both the public and from council employees.

The news comes as we launch our annual report for 2009, which includes special features on international trade, our forthcoming fact-finding mission to Côte d'Ivoire, the future of languages in the digital age and our sponsorship of Business Week 2009.

Click here to download a copy of the report (PDF, 700KB)

Carolyn Burgess (our chief exec) will be talking about all this and more when she appears as Rob Langley's special guest on KCFM 99.8 later this morning.

Business Week 2009: one month to go

There are just 31 days to go until the launch of Business Week 2009, sponsored by Language is Everything.

Business Week is one of the biggest festivals of business in the UK, and the line up of speakers for this year's event includes John Cleese, Dave Stewart, Alistair Campbell and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.

Language is Everything will be involved with proceedings throughout the week, and on the Thursday we're holding two events headlined by Tim Sanders. After making his name at Yahoo!, where he created a futuristic in-house think-tank called the ValueLab, Tim has become a best-selling author and compelling speaker on business trends and social responsibility.

Download Interactive PDF

We'll also be finding out the answer to the following question: is it possible to learn a language well enough to have a basic telephone conversation in 20 minutes?

The Language is Everything Challenge will see three contestants given 20 minutes to prepare for a basic telephone task. The tasks will be kept secret until the day, but they will be something like phoning a library to find out what time it closes.

The catch is that the library will be in somewhere like Latvia, and the contestants will not be allowed to use any English.

As part of their 20 minutes' preparation time, each contestant will receive intensive language coaching from a professional linguist.

The three languages that have been chosen will be kept secret until the day. All we know is that they will be from 'off the beaten track' of language learning: French, German and Spanish will not be included.

Carolyn Burgess (our chief exec) said:

"The theme of this year's Business Week is 'can-do', and this one of the ultimate can-do challenges.

"Can it be done? Yes, it can. A lot of people say that we're no good at learning languages in this country, but we'll hopefully prove that this is simply not true.

"Will anyone do it? That's a good question. The exciting thing here is that things could go terribly wrong. This is not something that will be taking place in a 'controlled environment'. It will be taking place, via telephone, all over the world. We're not saying where yet, but it could be Cairo, St Petersburg, São Paulo ... or anywhere."

The line up of contestants will be announced later this month.

Thank you!

We're delighted to report that Carolyn Burgess (our chief exec) smashed her fundraising target and successfully bailed herself out of Hull Prison yesterday (see our blog post below).

"It was an amazing experience and a real learning curve", said Carolyn, who was 'arrested' by the KCFM Smile Foundation, which provides support and grants to organisations in need.

"I'd like to say a big thank you to the governor and everyone else at Hull Prison who helped organise this fundraising event. I'd also like to say how incredibly impressed I was at the way the governor and his superb team of staff run the prison.

"I would also like to say a huge, huge thank you to everyone who made a donation yesterday. I know that a lot of you will be disappointed to see me released! But we raised a lot of money for two fantastic charities: thank you again."

Carolyn has the right to remain silent (if only...)

This Wednesday Carolyn Burgess (our chief exec) will be read her rights, handcuffed and taken to Hull Prison by two police officers...

It's all being done to raise money for the KCFM Smile Foundation: Carolyn will be 'raising bail' for her release by collecting donations online.

Please click here to go to Carolyn's fundraising page.

The Smile Foundation has been set up by radio station KCFM 99.8, and it provides support and grants to organisations in need. The Foundation's two chosen charities for 2009/10 are House of Light, which provides support for women with post natal depression, and Downright Special, which offers support and advice to parents on all aspects of caring for a child with Down syndrome.

As part of its fundraising campaign, KCFM will be 'locking up' bosses from across the Humber region. 'Doing time' alongside Carolyn will be Kath Lavery, chair of NHS Hull, and Jim Dick, who sits on the boards of Hull Forward, the University of Hull Council and the Smith & Nephew Foundation.

   

Language is Everything shortlisted for top award

Language is Everything has been selected as one of the top nominees for the Chairman's Award for enhancing the Economy of the East Riding of Yorkshire.

The Chairman's Awards are presented by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council to individuals, companies and organisations in recognition of their achievements towards enhancing the area in which they work and live. Nominations for the awards come from both the public and from council employees.

Carolyn Burgess (our chief exec) and Carol Curtis (our MD) will be attending a presentation dinner at Bridlington Spa on Tuesday 5th May.

East meets west

A recent article in the New Scientist looks at how culture shapes the way we think. Yet it also warns against simplistic stereotypes:

"One of the pioneers of this research is Richard Nisbett. In his book The Geography of Thought, he recounts a study in which he asked American and Japanese students to describe animated videos of underwater scenes. As befits the stereotype, the Americans were more likely to start by mentioning prominent objects such as brightly coloured moving fish or aquatic plants, while the vast majority of the Japanese students started by saying something about the context - the scene looked like a stream, or the water was green....

"However, recently it has become apparent that the east-west dichotomy is not as clear-cut as this....

"For example, Nisbett's group recently compared three communities living in Turkey's Black Sea region who share the same language, ethnicity and geography but have different social lives: farmers and fishers live in fixed communities and their trades require extensive cooperation, while herders are more mobile and independent. He found that the farmers and fishers were more holistic in their psychology than herders...."

You can read the full article here.

Towards prevention of cervical cancer in Africa

As part of her work with AfrOx, an organisation focussing on cancer prevention and control in Africa, Carolyn Burgess (our chief exec) has just taken part in a two-day workshop at St Catherine's College, Oxford University.

The workshop brought together opinion leaders, experts, funders, advocates, industry and African health ministries to identify steps towards implementation of a comprehensive prevention of cervical cancer strategy for Africa.

Language is Everything became a supporter of AfrOx in April last year. As a member of AfrOx's board, Carolyn takes a lead on communications.